Monday, August 13, 2012

Homemade pizza is one of our regular weeknight meals. We've tried different dough recipes, used store-bought dough, topped with different ingredients, and even grilled our pizza outside. Well, that only happened once. It was kind of a disaster. Grilling pizza is a quick process. You need to be on the ball and have everything ready before you begin. Have all of your ingredients outside next to the grill. Keep the cheese away from the heat. It will melt. You don't want to put the dough on the grill and then think about getting the sauce, cheese and toppings together. Not having everything ready the first time wasn't my biggest mistake, though. The biggest problem was that I tried to grill a large pizza - not so easy to flip! Do yourself a favor and make small pizzas.

This recipe came my way through another round of the Recipe Swap - Too Hot to Cook. Nicole, from Prevention RD, submitted this recipe and I was thrilled to add it to our menu this week. Now go add Nicole's blog to your reader, like her on facebook, etc. She is a Registered Dietitian and makes incredible, healthy food and takes really great photos of it all. Oh, and she is writing a cookbook now! Cool, isn't it?

The problem we have with our regular pizza is that it tastes great the night we make it, but any leftovers have a soft crust. It doesn't stay crispy. That is what I loved most about this recipe - the crust was crispy and stayed that way the next day. Aaron has been talking about this fantastic crust going on 4 days now. Sure, you can use store-bought dough, but if you have the time to let this rise, do try making your own dough. Thanks for a great recipe, Nicole!

*Toppings of choice (we put ham and pineapple on one pizza and mushrooms, red onion and green peppers on the other.)

Directions:
In a bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water, and mix in sugar. Proof for ten minutes, or until frothy. Mix in the salt, olive oil, and flour until dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl. Turn onto a lightly floured surface. Knead in the herbs until smooth, about 8 minutes. Place dough in a well oiled bowl, and cover with a damp cloth. Set aside to rise until doubled, about 1 hour. Punch down. Set aside to rise for 1 more hour, or until doubled again.

Preheat grill to a temperature of about 350 F. Punch down dough, and divide into 4 pieces. Form each piece into a round or square pizza 9-to-10-inch dough, about 1/6-inch thick.

Note: Have olive oil for topping and a pastry brush nearby the grill, along with your pizza sauce, mozzarella, and any toppings. You will also need 1 large spatula that is safe to use on the grill (i.e. not plastic). Have plates ready for serving, as well.

Brush one side of each pizza dough with 1/2 teaspoon olive oil and flip oiled side down onto the grill grates. Drizzle the other side with 1/2 teaspoon olive oil and brush to distribute with a pastry brush. Rotate the pizza 1/4th turn every 30 seconds or so. When the bottom side has nice grate marks and the pizza has puffed up, flip it onto the other side. Immediately spread 3 tablespoons pizza sauce, 1/2 cup mozzarella and all of the desired toppings onto the pizza. Close the lid and allow to cook for 1-2 minutes, checking the bottom of the dough each minute to be sure it doesn’t burn. Continue to rotate 1/4th turn to ensure no burning. The entire process will take 5 minutes or less, depending on how hot your grill is and how close to the heat source your dough is. I recommend starting with 1 pizza and never grilling more than 2 at a time. Yield: Four 9-inch pizzas (8 small servings, 1/2 pizza each)